The Sarah McLachlan interview: Lilith, Laws of Illusion and so much more

The sluggish economy forced the postponement of various big tours this summer and even Sarah McLachlan’s “Lilith Fair” had to cancel 10 of its dates due to slow ticket sales.

While it’s no doubt a disappointment to founder McLachlan, who last brought the all woman’s musical extravaganza on the road in 1999, the tour is still playing plenty of big cities this summer, including a stop at the Comcast Theatre in Hartford on Sunday, Aug. 1.

McLachlan is heading the bill, which has different guest artists in different venues along the way. She’ll be playing plenty of hits from throughout her career, including material off her latest album, “Laws of Illusion.”

The disc is the acclaimed Canadian singer/songwriter’s break-up album, directly and indirectly filled with a sense of melancholy, following her split with husband Ashwin Sood, the drummer whom she had married in 1997.

In a recent wide-ranging interview, McLachlan spoke with me about the new album, her seemingly deeply personal songwriting, the Lilith Fair and much more. The interview was conducted the day after she released “Laws of Illusion,” and prior to the postponement of some of the Lilith dates.

Q. Yesterday was the release day for the album. What is that day like for you, how busy are you?

A. It’s just a normal crazy day (laughs) I actually had to be reminded it was release day. I’m so in the mode of, I just get on the plane and it takes off to where I’m supposed to go. And then I ask where am I today? What am I doing? What’s my schedule? I got to be home for 72 hours with my kids through the weekend. I left at 5 in the morning yesterday, I’m heading for the airport right now, I go back and see them again and have a couple of days at home with them. It’s short-lived, it’s fast and furious but I’ve not given the record company a lot of time to do promo so they’re maxing out what they can get from me.

Q. This is an extremely introspective album. How difficult was it for you to deal with what must have been some of the toughest moments of your life in such an open fashion?

A. Well, I always write from an emotional point of view and from a pretty autobiographical point of view. But there is creative license in there and what I choose to reveal in songs is about as much as I’m comfortable talking about. That feels fine with me and I don’t tend to go into any more intimate details. Sometimes people will ask me, “Where did it come from, what did you mean by that?” For me that’s not really what’s important. If you relate to a song or if it resonates to something within you, what’s important is what you think it‘s about.

Q. Was it cathartic to write about it (the breakup)?

A. Very much. It’s cathartic, it always is. It’s really the best emotional release I have. A lot of stuff I went through is fairly easy to write about (laughs). It is very tangible, it’s visceral, two of my best girlfriends went through the same thing. So there were lots of good conversations going on.

Q. What does the title “Laws of Illusion” mean to you?

A. It’s sort of about creating a facade. Or creating your own reality or an illusion of what you think your reality is or what it’s going to be. And then when that all falls apart you’re left to deal with picking up the pieces and how to move forward and the laws are the rules that you put in place, the perimeters that you put on your life in order to keep the chaos at bay.

Q. When you find yourself feeling down, maybe even when you were growing up, were there particular albums that you would listen to?

A. No, I always sang. Well, I guess “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway,” certainly some teen angst moments passing there. You know, the last Genesis record before Peter Gabriel left. I spent many hours with the headphones engrossed with the pictures of the double album. Hmmm. But for me mostly, when I think about, I get so much comfort out of singing, I don’t go to other music when I’m feeling down, I just tend to sing.

Q. “Forgiveness” is an especially straight-shooting song. Did you ever hesitate about laying things quite as open as you do in that?

A. No because it’s not necessarily about my ex. I wrote that song years ago (laughs) It’s a “you done me wrong” country song, I wrote the chorus six years ago actually. My producer wrote the rest of the lyrics. I know everybody assumes and obviously certainly there are some parallels, but my ex is a really nice guy, a great guy. The person in this song is not very nice.

Q. But there are some very uplifting musical moments as well, particularly “Loving You is Easy.” Was it important for you to have that brand of upbeat pop represented here?

A. I didn’t set out to have it like that, it just sort of happened. For me it was sort of liberating ‘cause basically I’m a pretty happy person. I like the idea of being able to write a song like that. I just never really have before.

Q. Tell me about Lilith Fair. Your last Fair was in 1999. Why did you decide to bring it back after this many years?

A. Well, y’know it did seem like the right time. We were talking about putting out a record. We always were thinking about Lilith and it was always “Oh I can’t imagine it, too much work.” And then the last year and a half we were talking about it and it was like “We could do it again. We could give it the energy it needed.” My two managers and my agent had kids, they’re all a little older. We just felt we could do it again. And we not only had all the artists we had last time to choose from, but a lot of genres have really opened up in the last 10 years, so we had a wealth of new artists as well. And the fact that we were only going to tour in the summer made it the perfect vehicle. I thought if I could get a record out in time, that’d be great. (laughs)

Q. Do you do all of the recruiting of the artists for Lilith yourself? And can you give me one or two examples of where you may have had to deal with an artist who was hesitant to play one way or another?

A. I can’t because that was my agent’s job.
Q. Do you suggest artists to your agent?

A. Yeah, we all had a big huge wish list, we all got together and we decided, let’s go after all these people. My agent went out to all their agents and got them to say yes basically.
Q. Is it true that you were turned down by Miley Cyrus? Was that weird?

A. She had a film. She wanted to do it. It’s a busy time for people in the summer. It’s always tricky to try and get…I mean we really wanted Lady Gaga but she was already on tour, so there are other people we couldn’t get as well, but I like to focus on who we could get.

Q When are you going to do an all men’s fair?

A. (laughs) I think that’s for someone else to do.

Q. What was the experience of playing at the Olympics like for you?

A. That was thrilling. It was a really proud Canadian moment for me. I think the country really shined and it was great to be a part of it.

Q. You’ve been able to be home for most of your daughters’ lives. Do they find this whirlwind exciting right now and are you excited for them to be on the road with you?

A. I’m very excited for them to come with me. They’ve seen a little bit of it but I am very cognizant of keeping them way out of the spotlight and just letting them be kids. As far as they’re concerned I’m just mom. It’s more of an imposition than anything else when I’m with my daughters and strangers come up to me and want autographs. My kids say “Do you know them?” What do they want?” Basically it takes me away from them. They don’t care as long as I’m present for them.

Q. As far as Lilith, is it more difficult to stage something like this year in a tough economy?

A. We’re discovering it, yes absolutely. We knew going in that it was going to be a tough sell. We’ve worked really hard to keep ticket prices reasonable and we’re just going to see what happens.

Q. What’s next for Sarah McLachlan after the Lilith Fair?

A. I have no idea. I’m going to go to the beach with my kids and basically there’s two weeks before school starts and then we start back to school. I honestly haven’t looked that far ahead. I just want to get through the summer, see what happens with the record, but I’m not sure. I don’t plan to tour, except in the summertime.